176 THE NEW ART OF BKEEDING FISH, 



the river itself, there to await, as a matter of com- 

 mon certainty, its being brought to life 



Immediately on the expiry of close-time, the , nets 

 and cobles are set in motion. A few shots determine, 

 in most cases, the contents of the river, near the sta- 

 tion where these are made. For every clean salmon 

 taken during the first fortnight, in Tweed, there are 

 at least a dozen kelts and four or five unspawned fish 

 generally in a very forward or mature state. These 

 are secured, as a matter of course, during the ordi- 

 naiy endeavors made by the fishermen to bring the 

 net into contact with something better. There is no 

 cost or extra labor therefore required, in order to ob- 

 tain the spawn. The attendance of one or two of 

 the ordinary river police at each likely station, during 

 the first three weeks of the season, is all that is 

 needed in order to collect the ova and conduct the 

 inoculating process. This, under the instructions of 

 Mr. Mitchell, the active superintendent of that body, 

 any one accustomed to the handling of salmon can 

 accomplish. Say the ridds, by permission, are formed 

 with shovel or plough at the Monk's Ford, betwixt 

 Old Melrose and Dryburgh — nothing more is neces- 

 sary than to forward the spawn to the Newtown sta- 

 tion, and thence conveying it to the ford in question, 

 mix it up with gravel or river sand, and commit it 

 to the ridd ; all which may be done within two or 

 three hours of its being taken from the fish. Can 

 any thing be simpler or less expensive ? Well, mark 

 the results. Here is a quantity of ova which never 



